Maltese Surnames

The truth about Maltese surnames lies in an extraordinary contrast between high diversity and heavy concentration. While genealogical registers document over 12,000 unique surnames across the Maltese islands, this vast number is highly misleading. In reality, a staggering 76% of the Maltese population shares a core group of just 100 traditional family names, a pool that expands to encompass nearly the entire native population when looking at the top 150 to 200 surnames. This extreme concentration creates a unique genealogical landscape where names like Borg, Camilleri, Vella, and Farrugia dominate local phone books and village registers, making it remarkably common to find unrelated individuals sharing both identical first and last names within the same community.

This narrow distribution is reinforced by centuries of strict patrilineal naming customs, where surnames have been passed down predominantly through male ancestry. Because inheritance, property, and lineage were historically tied to the father's line, a relatively small group of foundational Semitic, Romance, and Byzantine surnames became deeply entrenched in Maltese society. However, this rigid male-dominated transmission introduces significant hurdles for modern genealogists tracking maternal lines. When a person—usually a female—changes her surname upon marriage or due to legal and religious adoptions, the paper trail can become incredibly difficult to trace.

Compounding this difficulty are the historical variations in record-keeping on the islands. Until relatively recently, surnames were frequently altered by parish priests translating names between Latin, Italian, and Maltese phonetics. When a woman took her husband's surname, her original maiden name was often relegated to obscure church marriage acts or faded baptismal records rather than civic registries. Consequently, while a Maltese man's lineage might be easily traceable back to the 1419 Militia List through an unbroken chain of identical surnames, the rich history of the island's maternal ancestors remains obscured behind name changes, creating complex riddles for anyone trying to piece together a complete Maltese family tree.

For a comprehensive history of Maltese surnames, please utilize MaltaAncestry's Surname Explorer

The list below compiles the core traditional Maltese surnames. While thousands of distinct names exist on the islands due to recent migration or historical foreign presence, this list focuses on the foundational family names that have historically defined Malta's population for centuries.

• Abdilla

• Abela

• Agius

• Alamango

• Anastasi

• Attard

• Azzopardi

• Bajada

• Baldacchino

• Balzan

• Bartolo

• Bezzina

• Bonavia

• Bonello

• Bonnici

• Borg

• Briffa

• Brincat

• Bugeja

• Buhagiar

• Busuttil

• Buttigieg

• Cachia (or Casha)

• Calleja

• Callus

• Camilleri

• Carabott

• Cardona

• Caruana

• Cassar

• Cassia

• Cauchi

• Chetcuti

• Chircop

• Ciantar

• Cilia

• Coleiro

• Cordina

• Cremona

• Cutajar

• Dalli

• Darmanin

• Debattista

• Debono (or De Bono)

• Deguara

• Delia

• Ebejer

• Ellul

• Falzon

• Farrugia

• Fenech

• Fiteni

• Formosa

• Frendo

• Galea

• Gatt

• Gauci

• Grech

• Grima

• Hili

• Magri (or Magro)

• Mallia

• Mamo

• Mangion

• Mercieca

• Micallef

• Mifsud

• Mizzi

• Muscat

• Pace

• Parnis

• Pisani

• Portelli

• Psaila

• Pullicino

• Refalo

• Said

• Saliba

• Sammut

• Sant

• Scerri

• Sciberras (or Xiberras)

• Scicluna

• Spiteri

• Sultana

• Tabone

• Theuma (or Teuma)

• Tonna

• Vassallo

• Vella

• Xerri

• Xuereb

• Zahra

• Zammit

• Zarb

• Zerafa